Making Our Final Case: Why you should retire Jim Moran on Tuesday

UPDATE: Live election results from the Virginia State Board of Elections are available here beginning at 7 pm. The page refreshes automatically as new results become available.

Folks, Election Day is here. It’s the day we’ve been waiting for.

RetireJimMoran.com was launched in April of this year with a clear message. We launched this site because it seems that for the last 20 years, Jim Moran has been given a blank check by the 8th District. Scandal after scandal, gaffe after gaffe, Moran still gets reelected by huge margins, despite being voted “Worst Local Congressman” by Washingtonian readers. It seemed no one was keeping an eye on him, so we decided to do that. In August, we started putting RetireJimMoran.com signs up across the district, and those signs brought thousands of voters to our website to see our message of change for the 8th District.

We have made dozens of reports about what Moran is doing while “serving” this district. It hasn’t been pretty. So with this post, we are going to summarize everything we’ve reported on to make our case to you about why you should vote to retire Jim Moran on Tuesday.

Jim Moran was elected to the Alexandria City Council in 1979. He was appointed deputy mayor in 1982. But in 1984 he was charged with felony conflict of interest for casting a vote on the Council that helped a developer friend win a bid for a lucrative plot of public land. The charge was eventually downgraded to a misdemeanor, and a sobbing Moran pleaded no contest and was forced to resign.That’s where his corruption began. He came back quickly, and in 1985 he was elected mayor of Alexandria. His tenure as mayor was embarrassing; as we’ve reported on in Moran’s Greatest Hits, he was known to get into bar fights and as some Alexandria police officers during the time said, he would’ve been arrested on at least one occasion if he wasn’t the mayor. (Source: Capitol Hill Blue)

Moran ran for Congress in 1990 and narrowly defeated the late Stan Parris, who was a popular Republican incumbent. Moran certainly made a name for himself in Congress; as one who once said “I like to hit people”, Moran shoved a fellow congressman on the House floor, an incident which required a dozen police officers to break up, and told another congressman, “I’ll break your nose!” (Sources: Washington Times, Washington Express) His tenure in Congress has been marked with controversy after controversy, which you can read about in Moran’s Greatest Hits.

But this election, there are three things that have emerged as the most important reasons to vote against Jim Moran in 2010.

First is corruption. Moran didn’t learn his lesson from his conflict of interest charge from the city council. As we have reported on extensively, Jim Moran has been involved in an elaborate “pay-to-play” corruption scheme in which he secures earmarks for defense contractors in exchange for campaign contributions. He has deep ties to the now-defunct PMA Group, a multimillion dollar lobbying group which was closed in 2009 after the FBI raided its offices in November 2008. PMA would exchange campaign contributions for earmarks for its clients from congressmen on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which Moran chairs. PMA Group remains Jim Moran’s top contributor in his career: They gave a total of $177,700 to him from 1990 to 2008. PMA’s founder, Paul Magliocchetti, personally gave $2,000 to Moran in 2006. Magliocchetti plead guilty to felony campaign finance fraud in September 2010 and faces up to 15 years in prison. In light of this, RetireJimMoran.com called on Jim Moran to donate the $177,700 in dirty money to an 8th District charity. He has yet to do so. In just the first quarter of 2010, Moran accepted $38,500 in contributions from executives, PACs, and lobbyists of companies for whom he has obtained over $26 million in earmarks. This shows Moran’s utter carelessness towards 8th District voters who want to see integrity in their representative. You can read all of our research about Moran’s corruption with sources at our special report.

Next is tax cuts. The decision about whether or not to extend the Bush administration tax cuts has been a hot topic on Capitol Hill. This is a very real, tangible way in which Moran’s policies affect you personally, directly, and dramatically. Jim Moran has been one of the most vocal members of Congress against extending the tax cuts. A study from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation shows the savings for the average middle class family in each congressional district if the tax cuts are extended. The average middle class family in the 8th District of Virginia with the median income of $111,455 would save $2,895 if the tax cuts are extended. Essentially, voting for Jim Moran costs you $2,895.

Finally, what we hope is the final straw for Jim Moran emerged in just the last couple of weeks. RetireJimMoran.com first broke the story of Moran’s disgusting comments that his opponent Col. Patrick Murray, U.S. Army (Ret.) was just “collecting a government check” in the 24 years he served in the military and it was not public service. National outrage ensued as the story was picked up by numerous media outlets across the country and several pro-military organizations condemned him. Of course, Moran claimed his remarks were “taken out of context” and he meant that Murray hadn’t performed service for the local community. His words speak for themselves. Putting aside the fact that the military serves all Americans, including those in the 8th District, it’s kind of hard to serve on the PTA when you’re being shot at in a warzone.

Moran’s comments show his contempt for the district he represents, which is home to thousands of military men and women, the Pentagon, and Arlington National Cemetery. He is completely out of touch with his constituents.

Twenty years of corruption, embarrassment, and contempt for constituents is enough. It’s time for change in the 8th District. On Tuesday, it’s time to finally retire Jim Moran.

Congressman Moran masquerades as a politican but his real profession has more to do with earmarking funds for political and financial gain, a modern form of bribery. Moran has been linked to several defense earmark scandals, and to cover up his corruption and bad image he uses his association with the Tahirih Justice Center, an immigrant advocacy group in order to divert attention away from his problems. Meanwhile the Tahirih Justice Center , a dubious organization has received over $2,000,000 from Congressman Moran. But a close look at Tahirh Justice Center’s budget worksheets for earmarked grant reveals some troubling financial improprieties. Shortly after the Tahirih Justice submitted a grant proposal that included a $250,000 expense for ” increased office space”, the Tahirih Justice Center announced they were seeking 2 lobbyists to fill the space.

Hmm… why are federal grant funds being used to house lobbyists associated with the” increased space”? Perhaps Jim Moran’s wife (LuAnne Bennett) can explain since she was on Tahiriih’s Benefits committee. Imagine that!

Congressman Moran is a irresponsible, classic political earmarking crook who deserves to be fired by the taxpaying citizens of Northern Virginia on November 2.
(Dave )

Congressman Moran has been earmarking taxpayer funds for political and financial gain, just the type of corruption you see in former Soviet countries. a modern form of bribery. Moran has in bed with the the corrupt Tahirih Justice Center, supposedly an advocacy to prevent female genital mutilation in Africa but who really spends most of it’s efforts on legislating online dating sites here in the US. g The Tahirih Justice Center , a dubious organization at best has received over $2,000,000 from Congressman Moran. A a close look at Tahirh Justice Center’s budget and activities show just where all the taxpayers funds have actually gone including promoting laws that encourage illegal immigration.

Why are federal grant funds being used to promote laws to restrict the rights of Americans to use online dating sites when the organization promotes itself as preventing female genital mutilation in Africa!! Tahirih also promotes illegal immigration through a loophole in VAWA.
Jim Moran’s wife (LuAnne Bennett) was also on Tahiriih’s Benefits committee. Coincidence???

Corrupt Congressman like Moran deserve to be fired by the taxpaying citizens of Northern Virginia on November 2.

Anyone else notice the striking similarity of the comments by Dave R and Michael T, who are supposedly different people? Take a look at their final paragraphs! It’s the same person /entity (the 8th District Republican Committee) trying to make their website look relevant. Couldn’t even vary the name style. How pathetic is that?

I notice that you posted your name anonymously, while at the same time suggesting that Michael T and Dave R are the same person living in the same district, ( 8th District Republican Committee). Let’s get to the truth of the matter. Both “Michael T” and “an actual member of the puiblic” are the same poster who plagiarized my ideas by copying and pasting my work and then posted as Michael T. How pathetic is that?